Microviewer



F. SKUPIEN March 28, 1950 IIICROVIEWER Filed Jan. 8, 1948 II'II Illlllll INVENTOR. Fmmx Sxumzn BY M Q fiw ms mroanav Patent ed Mar. 28, 1950 mcnovnnnm Frank Skil (llengo, Ill. Application January 8, 1!, Serial No. 1,219

It is also contemplated that the present invention will serve a useful purpose in the amusement of children, since the film strip or ribbon, presently described, may carry comic pictures or Mother Goose rhymes, for example, which are particularly pleasing to children.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple and effective means for advancing the ribbon or film strip from one spool to the other.

These and other objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal cross section of the device of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an open plan view of the lower cover member of the device showing the relative position of the parts therein, showing also a fragmentary portion of the upper cover member;

Figure 3 is a cross section partially taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a partial cross-section of the locking mechanism also shown in Fig. 1 but here shown separately for cleamess of description;

Figure 5 is a perpective view of the mean for manual rotation of the winding mechanism; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a modification thereof.

Referring in detail to the illustrative construc tion shown in the drawings, the numeral ll indicates the two-part rectangular case which houses the various parts of the present invention. This case ll may be suitably made of a molded metal or plastic, but plastic is preferred for economical reasons.

As shown in the drawings, the case II is comprised of the upper cover member Ii and lower cover member i2. The upper cover member ii and the lower cover member 12 are hinged together at one of their ends by the common hinge II, which is retained to each of the cover members by screws ll. The lower cover member i2 is cut away right angularly at II around its entire periphery and is provided with a ridge il in the same fashion. Conversely, the uplClnin. (Ii-30) 11 at -II and ridged at it so that when' the case II 3 closed the shoulder ii of the lower cover member receives the ridge 18 of the upper cover Inmnber and the shoulder ll of the upper cover member receives the ridge ii of the lower cover member, thereby affording a tight seal against mouture and air. It will be understood that the portions of the cover members to which the hinge I3 is screwed do not carry the ridges as above described, but present flat surfaces into which the hinge screws H are received.

The upper cover member ll carries integral munbers I! which project angularly downwardly from the lower surface thereof and terminate just short of a step on the floor of the cover member l2. The center top portion of the upper cover member II is right-angularly cut away as at 20 and 2| as shown. A magnifying glass 22 is then received onto the steps 2| and plastic strips 23 are flowed into or otherwise placed in steps 20 to secure the magnifying glass 22 firmly in place in the cover. With the magnifying glass 22 in place, the members I! form an interior hood therefor. The members I! and as a matter of fact the height of the step upon the floor of the cover member l2, presently described, may be regulated by-the power of the magnifying glass 22 inserted into the upper cover member ill.

The iower cover member i2 carries integral munbers 24 right-angularly to the upper edge of the lower cover member l2 and which are channeled as at 25 (Figs. 2 and 3) to receive the axle 26 of the spools 21, as will be best seen at Fig. 3. when the upper cover member ii is closed upon the lower cover member l2, the axle will be securely held in position by the juncture of the shoulders I'l, shown in Fig. 3 at 28 of the upper cover member i-l bearing against the axle 25.

The portion of the floor of the lower cover lnmnber I2 immediately below the interior hood formed by the integral members is is stepped upwardly at 20, as already alluded to, to afford 0. bearing surface or support for the film strip or ribbon. One end of the spool, in this instance the spool II and the end 3| thereof, carries a bevel gear 32 having teeth 33 and slots 3! therein. A thumb wheel 35 carrying a similar bevel gear 2' having teeth 31 and slots 38 is mounted rlght-angularly on the floorof the cover member l2, on a pin 29. The lower cover member i2 is cut away in a slot 40 which allows the turning portion of the gear wheel 35 to protrude through the exterior surface of the case.

The spool 21 has wound upon it a film strip or per cover member ii is cut away right angulsrls rllhlm ll, the free end of which is drawn man- 3 uallytothespoolllandpassedthroughaslot I so that a small tab 48 will protrude through the slot. Manual rotation of the thumb wheel llwillcausetheteethlltoengegeintheslots andtheteeth llto sageintheslots "so that the spool 80 may be rotated, which action draws the film strip H from the spool TI and causes the film strip 4| to be wound upon the spool II.

The integral members I! may be sligh ly rounded as at M to reduce frictional wear on the fllm strip or ribbon l I.

An angular leaf spring 48 is placed at the interior end of the case opposite the hinge and one end thereof is firmly held in position in the lower cover member I: by means of the pin 0 embedded into the plastic material of the case. A button release 41 protrudes through a slot 49 in the lower cover members and is shouldered at a before being spot-welded to the spring ll. The upper cover member if is slotted as at 49 to receive the angular curved and II of the spring II. It will thus be noted that with the cover members closed the end ll of the spring I will rest in. the slot 49 and will retain the covermembers II and I2 securely together. However, because the shoulders 49a abut the interior surface of the lower cover member l2, the end ll of the spring 45 will not be permitted to bear frictionally against the slot 09 but will be held rigidly and snugly therein.

Instead of the bevel gears I2 and it carried re spectively by the spool 99 and the thumb wheel 95, the means for manually rotating the spools may be formed as shown in Fig. 6. In this modified view the spool wheel II has spaced notches l2 punched adjacent the periphery thereof and the thumb wheel 3| has blunt teeth II which engage the slots 82 so that rotation of the thumb wheel I! will cause the spool to rotate in like manner.

The film strip or ribbon ll may advantageously carry printed matter or comic pictures or pictures in general. Since a great many characters may be shown in reduced size upon such a illm strip and brought up to viewing size by means of the as shown in Fig. 1. Then the thumb wheel ll may be manually operated in a clockwise direction which will rotate the spool II, causing the him strip II to pass directly beneath the magnifying glass 22. During this operation the observer may view the nlm strip through the magnifylns glass 22 until the dim strip 41 has been completely wound upon the spool 39.

As will be understood from the foregoing, the device may be carried in one hand of the user, and the thumb wheel 39 may be operated by the thumb of the hand in which the device is carried.

It will be understood that when one film strip has been exhausted the case may be opened by manual pressure applied longitudinally against the end of the button 41 and the spool carrying the strip removed therefrom and a fresh spool inserted. after which the above described operation may be repeated.

Having described my invention, I claim:

A micro-viewer of the class described adapted to be held and operated simultaneously in one hand, comprising, in combination, a two part casing of upper and lower cover members, the contacting peripheral edges of said cover members being oppositely ridged and shouldered to afford a sealing fit when closed, a film bearing spool rotatably secured at one end of said casing and another spool rotatably secured at the opposite end of said casing, a magnifying glass permanently embedded in the upper cover member, an interior hood formed by integral angular members projecting downwardly from the upper cover member, an integral upwardly extending step projecting from the lower cover member, said step being immediately below said magnifying glass and nearly co-terminous with the lower open end of said hood, a film strip or magnifying glass, the present invention will be economical in manufacture and will accomplish the desired result with a minimum of parts.

In practice the loaded spool 21 is, placed in position at the end of the case nearest the hinge and the end 43 of the film strip is threaded into the slot 42 of the roller III as hereinbefore described. The cover member II is then closed over the cover member I! and locked in position as shown in Fig. l by the spring II. It will be understood that the closing action will cause the integral members l9 to press the fllm strip down upon the step 28 of the lower cover member II,

ribbon extending over said step, a thumb operated rotary member engaging mahing means integral with one of said fllm bearing spools, and manually actuated spring locking means for connecting the cover members securely together.

FRANK BKUPIEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are'of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,818,767 Samson et al. Aug. 11, 1931 1,938,595 Samson et al. Nov. 24, 1931 1,957,378 Zimmerman May 1, 1934 ll 1,999,133 Shapiro Apr. 23, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 139,619 Switzerland May 16, 1930 

